Scaup It Out

 

Lesser Scaup are often found on our southern ponds, marshes, and secluded bays.  I must continually remind myself to look for out of the way ponds.  Many times when I do I am rewarded with some grand finds.  These were on the pond behind the Lakeside Professional Building off Hwy 71 in Bastrop, TX.

Scaup give many trouble identifying.  These are Lessers with peaked crowns, almost flattened in the back of the head.  Their bill is smaller and with less of a black tip.   All the males look dull—no black sheen to the front of their bodies. The male at the top of the first photograph has a head that is purplish in color.  The females all have brownish heads with some white about the base of their beaks.